Summary
- Historia Reiss undergoes significant character development in Attack on Titan, facing rejection, identity suppression, and taking on leadership roles.
- Her friendship with Ymir helps her embrace her true self, shedding the false persona of Krista Lenz.
- Despite a promising arc, Historia’s character is underused in later seasons, and her pregnancy subplot falls short of fulfilling its potential.
Many characters in Attack on Titan experience drastic character development, examining the cold and harshest nature of the world and making their decisions. Of these, Historia Reiss is easily one of the most intriguing characters that has been understudied in the present work. The product of one of the best shows, Queen within the Walls, is nothing short of a story of a woman’s triumphant rising from an unnoticeable supporting role. Although she was an amazing character that played a big part within the series’ middle arcs, she disappears in the last arcs, making some fans think of what could have been had she gotten a better story arc.
Historia’s story is quite personal and hits home with many fans, as there remains an illustration of rejection, suppression of personal identity, and burden of responsibility. Thus, starting from childhood abuse and ending with having to assume a fictional role, her life has been guided by circumstances. Yet, her friendship with Ymir helps her come to terms with who she really is and become herself after being an impostor for so long. She rises to power in the later parts of the show; however, due to her less screen time, fans often overlook her importance in the series Attack on Titan.
Before Eren, Attack on Titan initially had a completely different main character. Here’s a closer look at Attack on Titan: Volume 0.
Historia Reiss Or Krista Lenz
Unveiling Her True Identity
Historia herself had a sad childhood, spent in neglect and emotional abuse from a very young age. The protagonist’s mother, Alma, disowns her and regards Historia as a burden. This void of maternal love leaves Historia emotionally frustrated, making her feel unappreciated, thus giving her a complex of worthlessness. The social disgrace connected with her illegitimate status thus shuts her not only from society but also makes her feel unreceived and alone.
Having been first known as “Krista Lenz,” Historia is initially portrayed as a very kind and selfless member of the 104th Training Corps. Because of her manners, being affectionate and willing to help people, she gains the respect of others. But however, this is a false pretense she puts up, due to her backstory, while she is actually Historia Reiss, the illegitimate child of Rod Reiss, who is the rightful king within the Walls. It perfectly symbolizes her conflict—self-consciousness and yearning for freedom.
How Ymir’s are Always Responsible For Changing Your Life
Embracing Authenticity and a Life-Altering Bond
During her time in the survey corps training, Historia becomes rather close friends with Ymir, another member who has never truly fit into society. By being honest with her and standing by her side, Ymir helps Historia embrace the truth about herself. Through such a relationship, she decides to question her fabricated identity and suppressed feelings within her character, Historia.
Sure, we can stay inside the wall our entire lives and do nothing but eat and sleep! But… that basically… That basically makes us cattle! – Eren Yeager
Ymir’s influence helps Historia to cast aside the Krista persona and become the person she is. This transformation is also symbolic of the freedom one feels once they accept who they are and are willing to go against the flow of society. Despite her evolving character, Historia accomplishes becoming a free and empowered individual by embracing her past and her true self.
Pivotal Roles in Seasons 2 and 3, Ascending to Leadership
A Beautiful and Shining Symbol of Hope
The second and the third seasons of the show are where her character truly shines. She confronts her father, Rod Reiss, and refuses to be the pawn of his manipulative plans when he asks her to become a titan and eat Eren to gain the founder’s powers. She refuses and shows that she is not a weak woman and tells Eren that she’s starting to hate humanity and doesn’t want to eradicate the titans, as that’s not her role. Despite all she endured in the past and even losing her best friend, she assumes the role of the leader as the Queen within the Walls.
Still, as much as she has given, Historia is featured less in the later parts of the series. It moves towards other characters and other levels of plot and reduces her chances of growing as a character. This sidelining is particularly disheartening given how complex and promising her character was before and how she was a potential leader. This narrative decision diminishes Historia’s character development and also erases the opportunity of turning her into a multi-faceted character, as well as her reign and internal turmoil.
The Unfortunate Overshadowing
Wasted Potential of What Could Have Been Amazing
Season 4 of Attack on Titan revealed Historia’s pregnancy, which looked like it should play a crucial role, but instead, it did not take any large role. It was never clearly specified in the entirety of the series whether the child belonged to the farmer or was Eren the father? And thus, the fans were left in suspense. Some people believed the child would bring some shade of change to the Eldians’ future or be linked with the big master plan Eren was building. Nevertheless, Historia was given very little screen time, and her pregnancy seemed more like an appendage than a valuable story progression and allowed for a sensation of missed opportunities for the final direction.
Her moments with Eren were a clear indication that they both trusted each other a lot, and it’s quite clear that she knew or Eren told her about the rumbling plan and still went along with it, which makes it even more unfortunate that we did not see these moments more in depth. If Isayama ever does decide to create a sequel or additional chapters for the series, we can really hope he further explores her story more or gives her a bigger role.